For months, their contents have sat locked up in the stale hallway air in schools across the country.

The jackets, books and gym shoes — along with more perishable items — were left behind in school lockers and cubbies ahead of March break, when provincial governments announced closures that were expected to last weeks.

But as the weeks have turned to months, the forgotten food has turned to mouldy mush.

Now, some school boards are allowing students to return for the sake of retrieving the long untouched items.

But as with everything to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, the options vary widely.

Parents whose kids attend schools in New Brunswick’s Anglophone South School District received a letter on April 29 about retrieving items.

“At (elementary) schools, and possibly some middle schools, a parent/guardian is asked to pick up the items. Some schools may package up the items in a bag and label for quick pick-up. At high school, students may clean out their locker,” the note reads.

A spokesman for Alberta’s education minister said each school authority in that province “provided opportunities” for students to grab their belongings.

In Toronto, there’s no such luck.

“I left my Day 2 binder in there, which is definitely the most important thing,” said 14-year-old Tyler Malazo, a Grade 9 student.

His school isn’t semestered, and the binder contains school work for half his classes. But teachers have been pretty understanding, Tyler said, posting materials online for students without access to their supplies.

Malazo also left a winter jacket and — he is loathe to admit — some energy drinks he uses to help him pay attention during early morning classes.

But he has an interim solution to that particular dilemma: “My uncle’s been supplying me.”

Tyler said he hasn’t heard when he’ll be allowed to go back and get his stuff, but he’s confident it will happen eventually.

More troubling, he said, is what some of his friends will find behind their combination locks.